Saquon Barkley mistakenly thought Josey Jewell was the Defensive Player of the Year. Penn State isn’t taking him for granted.

Forgive Saquon Barkley, who thought Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2016. That distinction — somewhat controversially — belonged to Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers.

But Jewell made a strong case for the honor last year, and the Nittany Lions know he’ll be a factor when they face Iowa at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

“You can tell he’s the heart and soul of that defense,” the Heisman Trophy candidate said. “He’s a leader there. He’s a guy that’s going to come out, and it makes you want to step up to the challenge because you know he’s a great linebacker.”

Of course, Barkley got the best of Iowa’s defense a season ago. The star rushed for 167 yards and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass in Penn State’s 41-14 win.

But the blowout loss was no fault of Jewell, who showed off why he’s arguably the conference’s top linebacker. Jewell had 10 tackles, one pass breakup and a blocked field goal in last year’s meeting.

That wasn’t an aberration, either.

Jewell — a finalist for the 2016 Butkus Award who criminally lost out to Peppers for Big Ten Linebacker of the Year — had 124 tackles last season. The 33-game starter led Iowa for tackles in 2015, too, with 126 and tallied 51 stops as a freshman.

With 26 tackles in three games so far this season, Jewell has 327 and counting for his career.

Color Nittany Lions coach James Franklin impressed.

“There’s no doubt that he’s leader and bell cow of their defense,” Franklin said. “Very instinctive player, very physical player, very productive player over his career there. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it: He makes their defense go from a leadership and from a play-making perspective.”

Penn State running backs coach Charles Huff compared Jewell to former Nittany Lion and current Miami Dolphins linebacker Mike Hull “from a leadership perspective, awareness, efficiency, movement and complete understanding of the game.” Penn State linebacker Manny Bowen marveled at Jewell’s innate ability to be everywhere at once.

“I just see him all over the field,” Bowen said. “He gets to the ball every single play. ... Whenever you watch an Iowa game he’s always in the picture, always around the ball so I see his number flashing around everywhere and see him making a lot of plays for their defense.”

That defense, though, has looked vulnerable so far this year. Iowa State hung 41 points and 467 yards on the Hawkeyes two weeks ago, while North Texas led them at halftime and averaged 6.63 yards per play.

Again, not on Jewell.

After a 12-tackle, two-sack showing against draft darling quarterback Josh Allen and Wyoming on opening weekend, Jewell had seven tackles — including one on Iowa State’s final desperation drive. He also led the Hawkeyes with seven stops against the Mean Green.

Jewell’s been the focal point of Iowa’s defense the past few weeks — really, the past few years — and that won’t change on Saturday.

Tasked with stopping Barkley, Trace McSorley and the Penn State offense, Iowa’s defense will lean on Jewell’s seniority and skill. And Penn State’s back knows he’ll see plenty of him.

“He’s a lot faster on film and he plays the ball well,” Barkley said of Jewell. “He does it all.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 5:02 AM with the headline "Saquon Barkley mistakenly thought Josey Jewell was the Defensive Player of the Year. Penn State isn’t taking him for granted.."